Game Rules
delete this line Code of Conduct Los Angeles: No Angels is mature content, non-consent game which addresses many adult-oriented subjects. While the World of Darkness is an awful place, and there are no true respites from its horror, players are another matter entire. * We operate a Zero Tolerance policy for harassment, racism, sexism, unwanted sexual advances, other forms of discrimination and "creepy" behavior - if another player informs you that something you are doing is offensive or upsetting, desist immediately. An apology for your mistake and a pledge not to do it again will also do wonders for how you're viewed going forward. * If a player is uncomfortable with the mature themes of a scene, they are entitled to request a fade-to-black. The remainder of the scene will be resolved using the relevant and appropriate dice rolls, without any descriptive text. Alternately, a player may request a staff member proxy their character for the remainder of the scene. Transparency The very essence of horror is the unknown - from Lovecraft to King that which we suspect, but do not know, that which we fear, but cannot see terrifies us. It makes us feel weak, isolated and vulnerable. These are essential themes of Los Angeles: No Angels '''however we recognize that this requires players to invest a great deal of trust in the storytelling team to act as honest brokers and impartial arbiters. And that this trust is often abused on other games. * Staff will always explain why they are asking after something your character has done, or proposes to do. In order to protect the secrecy of other characters' activities, they may be oblique (e.g. 'I am asking about this because the information will be relevant to other players' activities') but at no time will staff demand you account for your In Character actions without giving you a reason. * All rulings and policy changes will always be accompanied by reasons. You will never be forced to ask for them. * Policy changes will never apply retroactively. * If you believe that a staff-member is acting contrary the game policies, you have the right of appeal - you may nominate another staff member to investigate the matter. * When we get it wrong (and we will...) we will admit it, and do our level best to remedy the situation. Storytelling and Refereeing * '''Los Angeles: No Angels actively rejects Rule 0 ''- rulings must be based in game mechanics and setting material and be applied uniformly to all players. * All scenes involving staff will be logged; whether running NPC's or acting in a storytelling or referee capacity. * All rulings and clarifications will be recorded on the House Rules page of this wiki, so that all players and staff are aware of established precedents. * In Character Consequences must be the result of In Character (In)Action - this is a deliberate inversion of the often quoted phrase which places the onus on drawing a line from a particular event (or chain thereof) to the consequence being applied. *# If a character can reasonably foresee that a course of action will have particular consequences, they must be advised of them (e.g. 'This will likely be regarded as a breach of Elysium, are you aware of that and do you wish to go through with it?') *# Disliking the unforeseen consequences of an action is not grounds for a ret-con NPC Policy NPC's a valuable tools for the Storytelling theme to promote core themes of '''Los Angeles: No Angels',''' '''stimulate role play and enhance plot. While every effort is made to create complex and compelling characters staff and players will enjoy, they remain storytelling tools to enrich role play and not vehicles for staff enjoyment. * NPC's are created at a certain power level - they may never gain or spend experience. * Positions of power should be held by PC's wherever possible. Alt Policy Each player may have one character. A vampire, human or ghoul. Character Death & Facing the Music Character Death refers to any circumstance which removes a character from play in the long term. Extended torpor, indefinite imprisonment and Final Death are all examples of Character Death. It is the view of the storytelling team that long-lived characters create more complex and compelling stories. * Wherever possible, alternatives to Character Death will be explored OOCly. * When called upon to Face the Music, players who do so without causing the Storytelling team to tear their hair out will receive 50% of their current earned experience toward a new character. OOC Masquerade policy Los Angeles: No Angels adheres to a policy of maintaining an Out of Character Masquerade - that is to say, IC events should not be discussed in OOC mediums. We expect that players will try to keep OOC knowledge OOC, but even without any conscious intention a character may make an intuitive leap or avoid a course of action they would not have otherwise because the player knows something the character does not. To support the primacy of role-play, and preserve the exhilaration of discovery and uncertainty, we ask players not to share IC information by OOC means. Information provided on character pages should only represent information which is common knowledge. This policy is also incumbent on those who have secrets they do not wish to be discovered - if you do not tell anyone, it is extremely difficult for it to get out! Staff will do our best to ensure that IC/OOC barriers are respected, but we cannot put your secret back under wraps once its gotten loose.